Surrogate
by Takianna
Summary: Clones are all the same, right?
1. Chapter 1

**Surrogate**

**Prologue**

He swore that he would tell her and this was only a temporary measure, but as the days stretched into months, Cody found himself unable to form the words. The words that he knew would break her heart. The words that would make her hate him, although it was for her that he had done all of this. It was his mission to make it right, but he didn't know how to.

"Captain Rex," another trooper called towards him. Toward him as he stood in the armor that he taken from Rex's body on that battlefield. No one would know one clone from another, would they? He had hoped they wouldn't as he slipped out of his own armor. His thoughts centered on Ahsoka and what the loss of Rex would have meant to the girl.

On that battlefield, he had left himself. He had given Cody away as he had placed Rex's helmet onto his head. He had even watched as Cody was mourned by those around him. Keeping quiet as he said goodbye to what he had been and embraced who he was now.

Ahsoka had clutched his waist tightly and sobbed into his belly plate at the sight of Cody's armor being dragged towards the landing area where the dead were being collected. All he could do was put his hand on her back and let her sob, finding himself a little sad at the fact that he was leaving it all behind. If she had only known for who she was sobbing. Who was really wearing that telltale yellow blazed armor. It broke his heart to feel her little body shaking under the thunderous sobs which were escaping her.

Then the lie had started. He was now Rex. He had shaved his head and tried to remember the mannerisms of his friend. Anakin had asked him several times if he was okay, probably noticing how 'Rex' was not the same. Cody had merely brushed it off as fatigue an continued on with his duty.

In fact, he had gotten really good at acting like Rex. They were clones after all and it was easy to pretend when you looked just like the person you were impersonating. Cody's voice was the same although sometimes the intonation was not, but that was easy to smooth over and soon Cody was hard to distinguish from the real Captain Rex. Cody hoped he would never be found out. That his lie would never see the light of a Coruscant day.

The time was coming though, when he would no longer be able to live this lie. It was only a matter of time.


	2. Chapter 1 a

**Chapter 1**

"You remember right?" Ahsoka asked as she laid the tiles in front of Cody and looked up at him with her blue eyes shining. He was stumped. Cody, now Rex, didn't know how to play quick draw. He'd never learned and yet now he had to sit here and pretend that he knew how to play. What he wouldn't have given to have joined in one of those games so many years ago.

"I...." Cody said looking at Ahsoka. "I'm sorry Ahsoka. I think that last grenade that exploded next to me shook me up a little bit."

Ahsoka looked at him, worry brimming in her eyes. If there was one thing Cody knew, it was that Ahsoka worried incessantly about the men of Torrent Company. Rex was her main concern most of the time. She approached Cody and laid her hand on the side of his face. She closed her eyes. Cody panicked and broke the contact with her.

"I've done this before, Rex," Ahsoka said looking shocked at the way he was acting. Her brow furrowed at him and her eyes narrowed. "Tell me what is really going on."

Cody stood up and walked towards the door. "I have some things I have to get done tonight," he said quickly, knowing that his voice was not going to hold out for much longer. How could he continue to lie to her like had been doing everyday? His stomach knotted.

"You said that you were free tonight and I know that those reports can wait," Ahsoka said her voice becoming even more concerned. "Sit down and tell me what is wrong with you. That is an _order._"

Cody hung his head and headed back to the seat. She knew how to get to the clones. Order them to do something and they always felt guilty about breaking those rules. Right now would be the time he should tell her, but he found himself thinking of more lies to cover what he had done. His mind worked at fever pitch to come up with an answer.

"I just," Cody started the lie forming on his tongue. "I just am a little shaken. That's it. There is nothing more to it."

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes and looked at him as though she was studying his face. It made Cody uncomfortable and he felt himself starting to sweat a little in his bodysuit. Maybe she was trying to use the force to probe him and that would definitely give him away. There was no way to hide that in the force, he was not the same man that she had called Rex. He wasn't sure how she hadn't figured it out before, but maybe she wasn't looking for any deceit.

"I know your secret," Ahsoka said in a small voice. Her eyes widened as she looked at him with those enormous blue eyes. Her skin glowed even more red at the excitement.

Cody froze. He was stuck in the chair and couldn't move. This was it. There was no way for him to get out of here and he would have to break her heart into a million pieces. General Skywalker would be left behind to pick up the pieces. Cody would be in the brig for impersonating an officer. At least, that is what he thought would happen to him. Maybe they would just dispose of him outright.

"You don't want me to beat you like I did last time," she said and laughed. "I seem to remember the part where you had to run around the deck without all your armor. I believe you called it your skivvies."

She raised her eyebrows at him questioningly.

Cody blushed. Had Rex really done what she was talking about or was this a trick to fish out the fact that he wasn't really who he claimed to be? Cody only had a split second to decide. The innocence in her eyes spelled out the truth. He laughed knowing that he had figured it out.

"Alright," Cody said. "You need to explain the rules to me one more time so I don't end up like last time."

Ahsoka laughed and then sat down in her chair. "I can't guarantee you won't end up that way, but you can give it your best shot. I have beaten almost everyone in Torrent Company."

Cody smiled. It felt good to feel this way, but at what price was this happiness that he had?

He knew that Ahsoka's breaking heart would be the pay out of everything that he had done. Why had he been so stupid? This had been his worst idea, but it was something the couldn't take back now.

"Well you can try," Cody said. "Just no jedi tricks, alright?"

Ahsoka scoffed at him in disbelief.

"Would I do anything like that?" she asked and batted her eyes innocently.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Cody polished the helmet in his hands until the glow-panels overhead were reflected in the surface. Although he knew that Rex had never been one for gleaming polished armor, Cody could not stand the idea of going about the ship with the gouges of answered laser fire in his plastoid armor. It was just one part of Rex that he couldn't imitate.

He wasn't sure that he could imitate Rex for much longer anyway. Cody was starting to slip back into old habits that were his own. It would be easy to recognize him if he didn't keep up the charade. General Kenobi knew him well. They had served side by side as Rex and General Skywalker had all these months.

General Skywalker. There was another stumbling block. Cody couldn't figure the man's strategy as Rex had always been able to and it was starting to get him a few strange looks from the jedi. It was something he was going to have to work on. Rex had always been a better tactician then he had been. It was not something that came easily to Cody. And who were these people who said all clones were alike? They didn't know anything about how these men who were all the same, but were so completely different.

A knock at the door to Rex's quarters woke Cody from his thoughts. He carefully placed the helmet on his bunk and went to answer the door. As he depressed the button, he was surprised to find General Skywalker standing on the other side of the door. Startled Cody snapped to attention.

"General," Cody said.

"May I come in Rex?" Anakin asked.

"Yeah," Cody said moving aside to let the general enter. This was the first time since Cody had become Rex, that the general had come to visit.

Anakin peered around the room and then turned back to face Cody. He was deep in thought, the clone could tell. Something was weighing on the general's mind. Something that he wanted to talk over with one of his confidants. Too bad Rex wasn't here. Cody didn't like the familiarity that Rex had shared with General Skywalker. There was something wrong about the whole situation. Somewhere, Cody thought, Rex had forgotten that Skywalker was a general and there were certain ways that you treated a general. At least that was what they had all been trained to believe when they were on Kamino.

"I need to talk to you," Anakin said rubbing his chin with his leather glove, his eyes taking in the small quarters of the captain.

"Yes sir," Cody said and shut the door behind him. Whatever warranted a visit to Rex's quarters was surely a private matter.

He went to the cot and moved Rex's helmet and armor and then gestured for the general to have a seat. Rex's quarters, just like Cody's had been, were not meant for company. When the boys from his company would stop by to visit or they would have game night, the other clones would use their helmets as makeshift seats. Generals didn't have helmets.

"I'm on to you," Anakin said after he sat down and settled himself. "I don't want to know why....I just want to know how."

Cody's eyes shot wide open and he shook his head. He had to deny the fact that he wasn't really Rex. He couldn't let Ahsoka be hurt. Cody cared too much for her. Although Rex had said a million times that his feelings for the young padawan were not right, Cody couldn't help it. The last thing he wanted was for her to sob the way she had sobbed for the man she believed to be Cody. It had broken his heart then and it would shred his insides to have it happen again.

Then what would she think of him after she found out? The fact that he had deceived her for all this time. Ahsoka would never forgive him. He would have to throw himself out an airlock to stop the pain that he had caused that little Togruta. It was a pain he couldn't carry.

"Ordering those girls at our last stop," Anakin laughed. "I don't know how you did it, but it was very sly. General Kenobi was rather surprised to find several half naked Twileks in his quarters."

Cody shook his head. "That wasn't me," he said and he meant it. Whoever had pulled off that prank was amazing. Cody wasn't one for going against orders, but whoever had done it had a great sense of humor. Why couldn't he have gotten that part of the Fett DNA?

"You can be all modest," Anakin said holding up his hands to placate the clone, "but I think it was the most fantastic prank yet in our prank war. It seems to me that you and the boys are winning, but the war isn't over yet.."

Anakin rose from the bunk and moved towards the door, ready to leave. "Just remember," he said depressing the button. "We are jedi and we are very crafty."

The general swept from the room and Cody collapsed onto the bunk, his lungs burning from holding his breath. This was getting harder to pull off everyday. Why didn't he just give in?


	4. Chapter 3

**Thanks to everyone who is reading and has been waiting for an update. This story has been hard for me to move ahead in, but I think I know where I want it to be and where it is going. Thanks for your patience and I am thankful for all the reviews. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 3**

He was groggy. Not just groggy, but something had exploded at close range and his head was still ringing, the high pitch whine in his ears. His eyes watered and he couldn't make out what was being said to him over the din. Damn the blasted dampeners in Rex's helmet hadn't kicked on like they were supposed to and left Cody vulnerable to the concussion grenade which had been lobbed in his direction. What he wouldn't give to make Rex pay in the afterlife.

"What's your operating number?" the medic was saying as Cody's ears finally cleared.

"CC-2224"

The words were out of his mouth before he could even think because he didn't need to think about his operating number. He knew it. His operating number was the first thing he learned when he had learned to talk and Cody hadn't given Rex's number, he had given his own out of pure habit. His mind was so confused by the concussive explosion. And then his tongue wouldn't move to retract what he had said. The medic was already punching in several numbers on a pad which he carried with him to report the wounded. Damn the precision of the clone army.

"Says here you're dead," the medic said turning the pad so Cody could see the red blinking icon indicating he was dead. That was strange, he wished he was dead now, but there would be no reprieve for him.

"I'm sorry," Cody said raising his blaster and firing straight on into the chest of the medic creating a large scorched hole. "You're the one who is dead now."

He stood as quickly and took the pad, firing his blaster at it to destroy the evidence of his mistake. As far as anyone was concerned, Cody was still dead or at least it was the lie that he wanted to tell himself. It was too late to resurrect the Commander and Captain Rex would do anything to keep Cody dead.

...

"Someone accessed Cody's operating number," Ahsoka said handing a small datapad to her master. The frown she wore on the outside was nothing compared to the frown she wore on the inside. Why had someone been joking around like that? Didn't they know how hard they had all taken Cody's passing?

"Who was it?" Anakin asked squinting to look at the small numbers which were creeping by on the scroll. They indicated the incoming numbers and outgoing information currently being gathered in the field. It was how the army kept a tally of dead and wounded soldiers in the mass of humanity that was the clone army.

"Field medic," Ahsoka said in a small voice which was not normal for her.

"Maybe they typed it in wrong."

Ahsoka shook her head. This was impossible. In one minute, she had gone from knowing that Commander Cody was not with them to having his operating number pop up on the incoming wounded display. She shivered from the dread she felt settling into her stomach.

"Clones don't make mistakes like this."

Anakin regarded her and his brow furrowed as he thought. It was true. Clones usually didn't make mistakes, but there were so many new clones on the battlefield that there could possibly be a mistake. At least he wanted to think that it was nothing more than a mistake. Someone's gloved hand that couldn't push buttons correctly or the number jumbled in the heat of fire flying overhead. Anything.

"Don't jump to conclusions," Anakin said trying to be a good master. In fact, he was sure it's what Obi-wan would've said to him, but if Ahsoka was anything like him, she wouldn't let it die. She would dig until she found out the truth.

Looking up at her master, Ahsoka vowed that she would find Commander Cody, no matter where he was currently hiding.

...

"Can I ask you something?" Ahsoka said as she sat across from Rex in the mess. He had just returned form the surface, showered and decided to get some grub. Ahsoka knew that she was always welcome to eat with him, so she had tracked him down.

"Anything," Cody said around a mouthful of the best vege-steak he had in a very long time. The droids in the kitchen were working extra hard today.

"Could someone have accessed Commander Cody's operating number accidentally on the battlefield?"

He choked, spluttering and cough as he tried to breathe. Somehow, the information he had given that medic had gotten back to her. Now, she was sure to know. He tried his best to cover his surprise at her question, but as always he had been unprepared for the questions she asked.

"It's possible," Cody finally said after he drank some water to choke down the rest of his bite. Right now the food wasn't looking all that palatable and he shoved his plate away.

"I'm not asking if it's possible, would it happen?" Ahsoka asked her tone hard as she turned her stony gaze on him. Cody felt as though her eyes were burning a hole in his forehead. Nervously, he ran a hand over his bald head.

"Probably not," Cody said being truthful. Clones were known for their precision, even when under the pressure of fire. They had been doing these types of drills since they could maneuver on two feet without assistance.

Ahsoka looked thoughtful for a moment. Now was the time when Cody would be thrown into the brig. He could feel his skin starting to crawl. She was asking him because she knew that he was Cody.

"I want you to find out who accessed it and why."

"Me?"

"You are my most trusted confidant and you are a clone. Who better to find an impostor in your midst?"

And she was gone from the table before he could reply. He let out the breath that he didn't know that he was holding. How could he trace the impostor when it was him all along? Cody laid his head on the table and stared blankly at the floor. Disappointment would be sure to follow this nightmare. He was not ready for that.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It had been two weeks since Commander Tano had given him the mission of trying to find out why the medics had accessed his own records on the battlefield. Cody still was stalling. Pretending to be on the tail of a big lead, but just enough to fake her out when she cornered him day after day.

This day was no different. She had found him in the armory checking through and inventory of rifles which had just arrived with the relief supply shipment. As Cody carefully checked through the number and types of rifles, he didn't hear the commander approaching.

"Captain Rex," she said from behind him and he jumped slightly. Turning around he saw the small Togruta standing there with her hands on her hips. He was in for it. Cody already knew it.

"Commander," Cody said turning back around and continuing the inventory. He checked his datapad rather nervously.

"What have you found out for me?" she asked her voice insistent.

"Nothing ma'am," Cody said lying through his teeth. He hoped she wasn't probing him with the force.

"You are lying," Ahsoka said her voice very tight.

Cody shivered inside the controlled armor he wore. What had he done to get himself into this position? All for the love of the one person who now stood before him. The person he would do anything to protect and he had done everything to hurt her. How would she feel now that she knew?

"Look," Cody said placing his datapad down and facing her. "I don't understand what you mean."

"I know you are not him," she said her voice a whisper. "Do you think I didn't know from the time you did this?"

Her eyes had narrowed at him and her skin was flushed a darker orange as she moved closer into his personal space. Commander Tano had a way of making her presence much larger then her small body. Cody could feel it pressing in on him as she made the distance between them even shorter.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Cody said backing up against the crates which the rifles were shipped in.

"You do know and you're going to stop telling me these damn lies," she said her voice raised to almost yelling levels.

What could he do? She was a jedi and would be able to over power him no matter his size. There was no gun which could match her lightsaber's ability and even if there was, Cody wouldn't be able to bring himself to pull the trigger.

"Don't make me tell you," Cody said putting his hands up. "I don't want to break your heart."

"You don't think you already have?"

"No! I've done this for you. I knew you loved him more than me."

"Cody, I always cared for you."

She softened at that point, her hand reaching up to stroke the side of his face tenderly. She smiled at him and hugged herself around his body. Cody reached down and held her close to him just breathing.

"I didn't know you cared," he said whispering into the room.

"Couldn't you tell?" she asked looking up at him with large eyes. He just shook his head no.

"CAPTAIN!"

"CAPTAIN!"

Cody shook his head, awakened from this sleep by the intercom.

"This is Rex," Cody said depressing the comlink button and speaking into the air his voice rough from sleep.

"You are needed on the bridge," the other clone's voice said back and then the comlink was dead.

He drug himself from the bunk and started to put on all his armor. Cody didn't even need to think about which plate went where. He could do it in his sleep as he was proving now. When he was finally dressed, Cody tucked his helmet under his arm and left the room.

…

"Seems that there is just more than one intruder among the clones," General Skywalker said as he looked at Rex. Cody shifted his eyes underneath his helmet hoping they weren't talking about him.

"What do you mean sir?" Cody asked looking at the General.

"Someone is sending information about our whereabouts," Skywalker said stabbing a finger down on a button and then there was a short burst of sound and nothing. It was a short burst communication which would be expanded after if was received and decoded.

"Where did it come from?" Cody asked trying to figure out who could be doing this.

"It seems to have come from your quarters," Skywalker said turning a very dark set of eyes on Cody.

"What?"

"You heard me Captain."

"It wasn't me sir."

"How do I know you are telling the truth?"

Cody looked from General Skywalker to Commander Tano. How did they tell if he was telling the truth because there were so many things he wasn't telling the truth about at the moment.

"Captain," Ahsoka said stepping towards him. "Rex, let me search you with the force, it will tell me if you are truthful about this."

Cody backed away from her and wanted to run from the room. If she used the force then he was setting himself up to be found out as someone else. There was no way he could win. Either he looked like a traitor or he let them find out who was under the armor.

"I can't let you do that Commander," Cody said resolved to the fact that he would, in fact, be exterminated for spying and insubordination.

"Take him to the brig," Skywalker said and pointed at Ahsoka. She nodded slowly and reached for his arm. He wanted to rip it away from her and run, but where would you run on a ship of this size. He could blend in, but not for long. They would be searching for him everywhere.

"I didn't do this General," Cody said as a final word.

"I want to believe you Rex," Skywalker said and looked at him again giving him another chance. Cody shook his head and turned to walk away.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Cody had been trapped in the brig for almost 24 standard hours. It had given him ample time to try and figure out how he could submit himself to a probe by the force. It was merely impossible. There was no way that he would ever be able to fool Ahsoka regarding who he was and that made his heart sink just thinking about the way she would look at him when she knew he wasn't Rex. She would feel so betrayed.

Rex was the person who Ahsoka had placed all of her trust in during the war. He had been the one person she had run to when it was difficult to handle what she was going through. Cody had betrayed any trust the small Torgruta would ever have in a clone. There was no going back from what he had done. He wasn't sure if he would be able to ever continue to live. Cody wasn't sure that he would even want to continue to live.

"Rex," a voice came from the energy barrier and there stood Ahsoka. She looked small. He wasn't sure if it was her demeanor or the fact that she was truly just a child. It wasn't that she was fearful. He knew that she did not process fear like the most people did, even if she was a child.

"Yeah little one," Cody said. The nickname always seemed strange to him, but he knew that Rex called her that many times, even using it over the comm when they were talking. It must have had a calming effect on both of them when they were speaking.

"Why won't you let me reach your mind with the force?" she asked crossing her arms over her chest. It was her against the world, Cody thought.

"I don't want to," he said in return and then turned back to looking down at his hands. Did he really have to take this third degree from someone?

"I've done it before," Ahsoka said grimacing at him. "Don't you remember when you couldn't remember certain things and I helped you?"

"Please," Cody said looking at her again. "I don't want to talk to you about it anymore. What is my punishment?"

What was happening inside of him was punishment enough. There would come a time in the next few days when he would have to confess who he truly was and that was a day when he hoped that they killed him. He didn't want to have to live with the fact that everyone would hate him. Just merely having to look into Ahsoka's eyes and feel the constant guilt, would be too hard. He deserved to die, as most believed he already was anyway. Who would miss yet another clone when there was one behind him to take his place?

"You aren't right," Ahsoka said sighing. "There is something wrong with you."

I'm not who you think I am, he wanted to blurt at her, but his mouth remained closed as her eyes probed him again. It was unsettling to think that she was looking through him, as jedi often seemed able to do.

"I know that you wouldn't give our position away, Rex," she said peering at him more closely. "That is something that you would never do. I just … I just can't prove it unless you let me."

Cody shook his head again. There was no budging from this. The only thing that would set him free was the truth.

"How do you know I'm not working for the Seps?" he said into the silence between them. "Do you think that you know any of us that well?"

Ahsoka placed a hand over her mouth as she tried to hide the shock on her face. Had he really just said that maybe he was a spy? What was he thinking?

"I don't believe you," she said in a hushed voice. "That isn't true."

"It's not true," Cody said truthfully. "I didn't do it. I would never let those bastards know how to beat us. My loyalty lies with the Republic and with you."

"I know it does, but this is not something we can let go," Ahsoka said her eyes gleaming as the light from the forcefield extenuated the tears in her eyes. He hated that he was making her so upset, but the truth would only be worse.

'Then you'll have to leave me here to rot," Cody finally said softly looking down at his hands.

"I don't want to," Ahsoka said to him and leaned closer to the forcefield. "Tell me the truth."

"You're a jedi," Cody said looking up at her fiercely. "Can't you tell if I'm telling the truth?"

She grimaced at him. "It doesn't work that way," she finally said. "And you know it."

"Then there is only one thing to do," Cody said bringing the conversation to an end. He would either have to submit against his will or they would have to punish him. The only punishment would be execution and he knew it. There was no hope for traitors in the middle of a war.

There was no hope for him.


End file.
